Read our almost daily stories of how Mike and I, as first time parents, go through life one day at a time.

Sunday, April 20, 2008

Wichita Falls, falls you suck.

So last week Mike, Ava and I went to Wichita Falls, TX so that I could work. Yes I am back in the swing of traveling, the only difference now is that where I go the family goes. It makes traveling fun, but harder in some aspects. My normal rituals still stand. Chinese food delivered to the hotel on the first night, pizza on the second. Yes I eat extremely healthy when I travel.I am ready to go...Shot Gun!

How will I bugg dad today? Playing on the hotel bed, I might not sleep in it, but I will play on it.

OK so now on to why Wichita Falls sucks. I always thought there would be this wonderful falls there....nope. In the 1880's, on the frontier of the Wichita River, the town of Wichita Falls emerged, named after the Indian word "Wee-Chi-Tah" and a small waterfall. There is now a 54-foot man-made waterfall that was completed in 1986 and replaced the original falls that washed away more than 100 years ago. The problem with this is that they turn it on and off. The first day it was off. The second day it was on, but muddy. I talked to the locals and they said it is usually clear and beautiful but they have had a lot of rain and it washed the Oklahoma dirt into the falls making it muddy and red...a lot like the red river that separates TX and OK. Oh well. Mike and I said we will go back for a day trip when Ava is older and do the trail and falls when they are cleaner.

Now the hotel was a total experience in its own. Now that Ava is sleeping a bit better, and on her tummy, we got a double bed room and just placed her on the spare bed surrounded by pillows. This was a good idea in theory, but it was not what Ava was used to. So the nightly ritual of getting up every 2 hours returned. I am sure the combo of the hard bed, hotel noises and highway noises was not good for any one's sleep. Yes I realize at this point I have been spoiled for the 1 year of no travel. I guess I should stop my whining and deal with some noise and a hard bed every now and then.

One day after work, this is what I came back to at the hotel. I couldn't resist, I had to take a picture. Isn't that too cute?

One good thing about the hotel is that there was an indoor pool. A little salty, so I didn't put Ava underwater at all, but fun. She did really well for her first pool experience. At first she clung tightly to me, but later she would try to go off on her own. Yup we might have a fish. I guess this means I will need to take her swimming as often as possible this summer. Oh random, I learned that Mike did not learn to swim until he was 13ish and he still really doesn't know how to swim very well. I just didn't know people didn't learn to swim early on....I thought it was a right of passage to do swim lessons when you were a kid or to live in the pool during the summers, guess not.